Dreamwave Labs has listed Perihelion for a 2027 release on Steam, presenting a space combat roguelite in which planetary gravity affects ships and projectiles. The central mechanic changes aiming from a straight-line calculation into a problem of momentum, position and timing.
Weapons inherit the player ship’s velocity when fired. Nearby planets then pull on those shots while also influencing the ship that launched them. Dreamwave says pilots can use that interaction to curve fire around an orbit, gain speed through a slingshot manoeuvre or recover from an approach that initially looks out of control.
Runs begin from a carrier
Each run sends the player from a carrier into branching sorties. Completed missions offer upgrades that can adjust fire rate, projectile behaviour and status effects such as burn or EMP. Other effects can activate after an enemy is destroyed, allowing combinations to develop over the course of a run.
Progress does not end entirely after a failed attempt. Between sorties, resources can be invested in a persistent skill tree covering durability, offensive power and resource management. The official description says those improvements carry into later runs.
Co-op supports squads of four
Perihelion supports solo play and cooperative squads of up to four pilots. Its Steam listing includes online co-op, LAN co-op and cross-platform multiplayer. Dreamwave says missions scale with the squad and require players to coordinate orbital approaches and share radar information.
The carrier also serves as the story space. Players can build relationships with crew members and recover corrupted black boxes and transmissions connected to a missing sister ship. Dreamwave says those relationships unlock story threads, though it has not yet detailed how much they can alter the campaign.
What remains unconfirmed
The store page gives a broad 2027 release window rather than a date, and no price is listed. It identifies Windows, macOS and Linux support, but those platform labels should not be treated as a final technical specification while development continues.
The available description establishes the planned mechanics, not their final balance or handling. How readable curved projectiles remain during busy four-player encounters will depend on the finished game. For now, the confirmed pitch is a run-based combat game that treats gravity as an active weapon rather than background scenery.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Primary source: Dreamwave Labs’ official Steam page for Perihelion
